


falling slowly, eyes that know me

by MaddieandChimney



Series: Good Things Happen Bingo [1]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-27 18:34:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30127068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaddieandChimney/pseuds/MaddieandChimney
Summary: It's their first night in their new home together and Maddie and Chimney realise they don't need a piece of paper to tell them that they're married.
Relationships: Maddie Buckley/Howie "Chimney" Han
Series: Good Things Happen Bingo [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2217228
Comments: 8
Kudos: 12





	falling slowly, eyes that know me

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: My own private "I do"

Maddie grins as she looks at Chimney, feeling his hand in hers as the two of them lie in their yard, looking up at the stars. It’s their first night in their new home and their little girls are fast asleep in their  _ own _ bedrooms for the first time in their little lives and her stomach flutters with the knowledge that they have a third baby Han on the way in just a few months. It’s their first house together and it’s perfect in every single way possible because it’s filled with more joy than she had ever thought possible. 

“I love you.” 

She smiles at the words, feeling his fingers graze over her engagement ring as her attention turns back to the sky once more. They are used to just looking out the window of the apartment they had lived in together for four years now but eventually, it was too small for a family of four and now, a family of five. This way, the girls - the three girls - could have bedrooms of their own and Maddie might finally win in her fight to get a dog when their third (and most definitely last) child is in the world. “I love you, too.” She finally whispers back, turning her head back towards him so he can press his lips to hers and still, after five years together, it feels just as amazing as it had the very first time their lips had touched. Well, more so now because he had given her three of the greatest gifts she ever could have asked for. 

“I can’t wait to marry you.” Their wedding was a way off, they had been engaged for two years but kids were expensive. They had a three and a half year old, an eighteen month old and their third daughter who would be making her grand entrance in about four months time. The house had become a priority, understandably when the tension in the air was getting a little too much for two adults who needed some space to breathe in when the children were being their usual excitable selves. 

Maddie grins, “So let’s get married. We don’t need a piece of paper or a white dress or a massive ceremony to tell us we are married. Let’s just… get married right here. Just the two of us. And one day, we’ll make it official but for now, a signed piece of paper won’t make you my husband.” He sits up suddenly, the bright smile on his face encouraging her to do the same until he’s towering over her for a second, both of his hands pulling her up to stand next to him. 

Chimney’s eyes are shining with tears and he still looks at her in the same way he always had; with so much love and admiration that it immediately brings that sense of being home to go rushing through her whilst she looks at him. Amelia and Penny were the greatest display of their love she could have ever imagined - two little girls with his smile and Amelia most definitely had inherited his sense of humour and both of them had only ever known love and affection, so it was all they shared with the people around them. She knows, more than anything, that the little one growing inside of her right then was going to be just as amazing. 

“Maddie Buckley… I have been falling more and more in love with you every single day since we first met. And every day I wake up and I don’t think it’s possible but then… you smile at me or Amelia comes running into the room and jumps on us or Penny does that excited little dance in her crib when we open the door in the morning and I realise that I just keep falling head over heels in love with you every single time I open my eyes in the morning. And knowing I’m going to have that feeling every single day for the rest of my life is just… I waited forty-three years and you and our little family were worth every single second of that. I’d take it all… every tear, every moment I felt lonely, every bit of pain, every night I spent thinking that I would never find love or be a father or be a husband… I’d do it all over again if it meant meeting you.” They’re both crying when he pauses to take a breath, his hands held tightly in her own before he dives forward to softly press his forehead to hers. “You are everything, you’ve given me so much and I don’t want to ever know a day without you in my life. I don’t want to know a day where I don’t make you laugh even once, or I don’t feel your hand against mine or your lips touching mine…” His lips graze along hers as though to make his point before he pulls back enough to glance towards the home they had bought together. 

“This is everything I wanted and so much more. I didn’t… before I met you, I thought it was too late. I didn’t realise that I would fall in love so deeply and so intensely, I didn’t think I would have the chance to know what being a dad would feel like and to love every single second of it because my girls… all four of you... you give me the strength I need to fight through the difficult days and knowing I get to come home to my family…” Chimney smiles as he shakes his head, a look of disbelief on his face, “One day… I’m going to stand up in front of all the people we love the most and I’m going to have rehearsed my vows so they’ll sound a lot better than they do right now but… for now, I love you. I love you more than I have ever loved anyone and more than I ever thought it possible to love another person. And I’ll keep falling in love with you all over again, every single day, for the rest of our lives together because you make it easy. You’re beautiful, you are kind and loving and the most amazing mom in the world. I love waking up next to you, I love hearing your laugh and seeing your smile, I love it when you sing in the shower and when you sing your silly made up breakfast song with the girls. I love it when I get to come home to you every single day and I love that it’s not always perfect but it never matters because we can’t stay mad at each for too long.”

Maddie smiles as gently presses a kiss to his cheek, tasting the saltiness of his tears before she takes a breath, “When I came to LA, I didn’t expect to fall in love. I had been married for a long time and I didn’t think I could learn to love or to trust another man again. I just assumed that if I lived, it would be alone and I was okay with that because… the only goal when I got here was to live. But then I met you and you smiled at me and your eyes were so kind and you were so patient and you have this… lopsided smile that makes my heart skip a beat in the cheesiest way possible every single time.” He smiles and tilts his head to the side as he does and it’s always as though she’s falling in love all over again when she’s looking at him. She can’t imagine loving another person more than she loves him, “And I wasn’t ready for a long time and you didn’t… push. I think it was clear how we both felt but you didn’t expect anything from me, you never have. You just… let me set the pace, you let me have the control I didn’t have for so long and I have no idea how to thank you for that. You gave me back what Doug had taken from me and there aren’t enough words to tell you how much I love you for that.” 

Her voice cracks, the tears falling as she holds both of his hands in her own once more and pulls him a little closer to her until the gap between them barely exists, “I told you once that I had wanted to be a mom but it never felt safe enough in my marriage but then… I got pregnant and Amelia wasn’t planned but she was the most beautiful surprise we ever could have asked for. And you were so happy, and I was just so excited to be a parent with you, as hard as the pregnancy was with everything going on in the world at the time and Penny gave us that chance to take back the control we lost during the pregnancy with Amelia and there is no one else I would do this with. There is not a better dad in the world than you, those girls… they adore you and I know that they are safe,  _ we _ are safe with you and we are loved and protected and I never have to worry or be scared ever again because you’re right here. And I know that as long as I have you, and as long as they have the both of us, they’ll never know anything other than two parents who love and respect each other. They’ll never know parents who can be cold or unloving, or purposefully hurtful. Our little girls are going to grow up knowing that men can be kind and good and gentle, that a home can be a loving one and they don’t have to feel scared or alone. You gave me a second chance at love and every moment of it has been so beautiful… I couldn’t imagine my life without you. I can’t… imagine my heart could be any fuller than it is right now and… I love you. I love you more than I could ever put into words.” 

Chimney’s lips crash against hers before she can take a breath, both of them laughing through the tears as he does, so caught up in the overwhelming love they have for each other that they almost forget, for just a second. Until he pulls back with the biggest grin on his face, “I think we skipped the I do part, but I’m gonna go out and buy you a ring tomorrow and I do, Maddie Buckley. I really, really do.” 

Her own smile matches his, “I do, too. So much.” And then she glances back at their house, still unable to believe that it’s all theirs, “So, how do you propose we spend our first night as husband and wife in our beautiful home?” 

“Oh, I can think of a few things.” 


End file.
